These images were taken at the swimming competition that was part of the larger multi-sport competition known as the Warrior Games. The competing atheletes received some form of disabling injury while in service to their country and are either veterans or on active duty. All branches of the US military participated, as well as representatives from the UK and Australian services.

The weeklong competition, held in July 2017 in Chicago, was the first of the games held in public venues, and not on military bases. Let’s hope that this is the first of many visits they make to Chicago and other cities!

The images were all shot using the Olympus OMD-EM5, using the M Zuiko 75-300mm-f4.8-6.7 zoom, or the M Zuiko Digital ED 12-40mm f/2.8 Pro zoom lens.

When I saw this (photo) sculpture outside of the Hong Kong Museum of Art in Tsa Shim Tsui, I immediately assumed that it was the work of Anish Kapoor, who had designed and constructed the lovely Cloud Gate sculpture situated in Chicago’s Millennium Park. I was very surprised to see that it was by another artist, Danny Lee. It got me wondering: when you’re working in something as time-consuming as stainless steel, can it be just coincidence that two artists would develop forms so thematically similar?

So, I did a little research. Anish Kapoor’s Cloud Gate was constructed between 2004 and 2006 (and commissioned for the park, which was to have been completed for, of course, the start of the new millennium), Danny Lee’s Waterdrop (above) was dated 2008.

Confining a photo to square proportions is harder than it looks, I’ve found, especially when your normal range of vision takes in close to 180˚. While a wide angle lens won’t come close to that, it does capture an image that goes far beyond an equal-sided frame. But to share images on Instagram, one does what one must!

Red night district

Noodle artisanry

Imagining a new look

Waiting for John

Lazy temple afternoon

Packing up

Different modes of transport

Judgement

Lucky Strike anyone?

While I just can’t make myself wield the ‘scissors’ with many of the hundreds of images I shot on a recent stay in the Hong Kong area, a few of them do make for fun snapshots of that fascinating part of the world. And the use of Snapseed for some playful editing just adds to the fun!

We went to afternoon tea in the lobby of the Peninsula Hotel (something every self-respecting Anglophile and/or reader of guide books to Hong Kong should would do).

We knew going in that they didn’t take reservations, that there would probably be a line, but that did not prepare us for the string of people waiting to sample the goods, nor the fact that a hotel renowned for its service would not take one (or more) of the many service-oriented steps available to it, and that the wait would be more uncomfortable than that you might endure at any Ruby Tuesday. No way to register your party’s name and number of guests (with an estimate of how long the wait might be), nowhere to sit, and certainly not a little buzzer you might take away to find a place to relax and be summoned when your golden moment arrived – we were left to stand on increasingly tender travel-worn feet for endless minutes, avidly watching the traffic of the lucky seated and spotting openings with the enthusiasm of a sports announcer calling out a missed opportunity.

After 90 minutes (because once you’ve invested 30 minutes you morbidly figure that you may as well hang in there), our happy moment arrived. We ordered the special “pink” for October and breast cancer fundraising tea and sat back to enjoy it.

I sat back and tried diligently to pace myself and to let the surroundings sooth my tired tootsies – it helped that I began with the raisin scones as I carefully extracted the raisins first – and slowly savored the goods.

Was it worth it? Well, probably not. But we enjoyed it all the same, and left little evidence of our stay behind!

Why is Chinatown such an inconvenient drive for me? (All of a 30-minute drive…) One of the tasty treats I cannot say “no” to in Hong Kong is the egg tart, nor to its equally tasty counterpart in Macau. Warm, not overly sweet, rich, and filling, they are little hand pies of perfection!